feb 7, 1836 - Cholera 1832

Description:

Cholera is considered to be extremely rare in the United States, however, it is more-so common in under-developed nations. It is caused by the bacteria “Vibrio Cholerae” and is caused by infection of the intestine with the toxic bacteria. It is spread via the fecal/oral route, grows fast in food, survives a long time in the environment, and is resistant to salt, and sensitive to heat and acid.
There are approximately 2.9 million cases per year and of those cases, roughly 95,000 cases occur in death across the world. Cholera is heavily related to the germ theory even though the people who were studying cholera were looked at as “outsiders” when trying to discover more about the disease as medical establishments didn’t believe in them. The first pandemic of cholera started in India and then was spread due to global trade routes.

It eventually made its way to the United States in 1932 and New York was the first to be hit with the disease. The first epidemic was in 1832 (later having another one in 1849), at the start of massive immigration (mostly Irish immigrants). At this time, there were roughly 250,000 people living in the city and many did not believe cholera to be contagious, therefore people were not taking the same precautions that we saw people make the second time around. The epidemic started in June of 1832 and by the end of the summer, around 3,500 people had died. The second epidemic was caused by bringing 300 passengers over from Europe who were infected and quarantined on Staten Island, some escaped and made their way to Manhattan and because of this, over 5,000 people died. The most prominent people affected were Irish immigrants and the bacteria managed to stay in New York for the next twelve years after the epidemic had passed.

The source of contamination is typically when an infected person’s feces comes in contact with water or food and contaminates it. The disease can also spread more rapidly in locations with inadequate drinking and sewage water and poor sanitation. Preventing cholera early can be helpful as this could save many lives. Clean drinking water, washing your hands, cooking food properly, vaccinations and early treatment are all ways to help prevent cholera.

Symptoms: If cholera goes untreated, symptoms can intensify and become extremely unbearable and even cause death. Low blood pressure, increased thirst, rapid weight loss and loss of skin elasticity are also symptoms that can occur. Discoloration of the skin was also a symptom that could occur, often changing one's skin to black or blue due to ruptured capillaries. The most common symptoms of cholera include watery diarrhea, vomiting, and cramps. Due to the lack of fluid in the body, dehydration and shock are the following symptoms. Death can then occur is cholera goes untreated. However, most cases are mild and some even go without symptoms, but the severe cases have the worse symptoms.

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